Revealed: 100s of Scots homeless seeking official help turned away

One housing charity said that a homeless person in his early 20s tried to kill himself by setting himself on fire in Glasgow last week after he was unable to get temporary accommodation. Police Scotland said they were aware of the concern and that he was taken to hospital.

It has emerged that the city council has been facing court action over the failures. The council had recorded just three instances of homeless people seeking emergency accommodation being turned away in the previous two years - 2021 and 2022.

It comes three years after a housing regulator inquiry found the council had failed in its legal duties to homeless people by failing to ensure there was enough suitable temporary accommodation for them before the coronavirus pandemic.

It was warned that it should have an adequate level of suitable temporary accommodation which "meets the diverse needs of people experiencing homelessness".

Councils have a legal obligation to offer temporary accommodation when they assess a person or household as unintentionally homeless.

It has emerged that there were 40 that were unable to be immediately housed in temporary or any other accommodation so far this year in Edinburgh, and four in Clackmannanshire. There were 64 in Fife in 2022/23.

READ MORE: Glasgow City Council failed in legal duties to help homeless, says regulator

Housing campaigners say that the development is "shocking" as it condemns those rejected to live rough on the streets and have called for urgent action to stop the law breaches "scandal" which could lead to deaths this winter.

The pandemic saw a rise in the use of bed and breakfast accommodation and hotels as temporary accommodation as it was felt it was easier for households to socially distance.

And in 2020 more than 2294 homeless people were housed in often run down Glasgow bed and breakfasts after Covid hit.

Housing campaigners had been pushing for a rolling out of rules agreed in 2020 that B&Bs and hotels are used in emergencies only for no more than seven days before more settled accommodation is found. The law was finally changed in May, 2021.

It is feared the problem could get even worse as the city is expected to find homes for hundreds of refugees by the end of the year.

Glasgow was one of three areas along with the City of Edinburgh and South Lanarkshire where there was a greater risk of destitution as the UK government seeks to clear a backlog of asylum claims for hundreds across the country, according to the Red Cross.

The concerns surfaced after it emerged that the number of people in the UK waiting for a decision on their asylum claims has risen to a record high while the UK government has set targets to clear the so-called legacy backlog by the end of this year.

The Glasgow City Council area was earmarked as having the highest housing pressure of any local authority in Scotland while housing 4,267 in asylum accommodation. The pressure on housing is rated at ten out of a scale of one to ten.

The City of Edinburgh, which is housing 39 in asylum accommodation was also rated 10 for housing pressure.

South Lanarkshire Council, which is housing 67 was rated nine.

Glasgow City Council has said it is liaising with Home Office officials over what was called "unconscionable plans" to clear the asylum backlog with leader Susan Aitken saying that the council knows that there are "severe risks that this will unduly impact vulnerable people in our communities".

Home Office figures show that more than 175,000 people were waiting for a decision on whether they will be granted refugee status at the end of June 2023 - up 44% from last year.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak set targets to clear the backlog by the end of this year in December, 2022.

Glasgow City Council is considering legal action against the Home Office fearing it will be unable cope with moves to clear the backlog with homelessness services facing a £70.1m budget black hole in the next financial year.

The local authority expects around 2500 decisions on asylum cases to be made by the end of this year which they admit will place an "already stretched homelessness service under unprecedented pressure".

READ MORE: Uptake of meals for the vulnerable in Scotland trebles during lockdown

The council believes temporary accommodation pending an offer of settled accommodation may need to be found for over 1000 refugee households by the end of the year.

Councils have a legal obligation to offer temporary accommodation when they assess a person or household as unintentionally homeless but there are concerns Glasgow will not be able to handle the number of cases that are being rushed through this year.

The council says the UK government has confirmed they have not provided any financial support to deal with the backlog.

According to a June analysis the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) was already 1600 lets short of the 4500 it needs annually.

The HSCP - the amalgamation of Glasgow City Council and NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde which delivers community health and social care services - has been seeking to cut back on its use of high cost hotel and bed and breakfast accommodation for temporary accommodation as it already faces overspending its budget by £16.646m.

Govan Law Centre (GLC) has said it was instructed by to raise urgent proceedings for judicial review in the Court of Session two weeks ago to secure emergency homeless accommodation for three people.

They said all had been accepted as homeless by the local authority and were advised they were entitled to interim accommodation, however they were informed there was nothing available. All three had been sleeping rough.

After raising proposed petitions for judicial review in the Court of Session all three were provided with emergency accommodation.

The Scottish Tenants Organisation (STO) said: "It is scandalous that in 2023 hundreds of homeless people are being turned down for temporary accommodation and throughout Scotland.

"The numbers especially in Glasgow are horrendous which means that all these local authorities are breaking the law, sentencing innocent people to destitution and possible death on the streets this winter. This is unacceptable."

The Homeless Project Scotland (HPS) charity, said that one homeless person in his early 20s who could not be accommodated tried to kill himself by setting himself on fire last Monday in the Broomielaw area of Glasgow.

"He set his belongings on fire and then put himself in the fire and tried to kill himself because he was refused accommodation. The fire brigade came put him out and then he tried to jump into the Clyde," said the Glasgow-based charity's chairman and co-founder Colin McInnes who said he was taken to hospital and later released.

"He is out there wandering the street saying that he will die on the streets. This is what we are dealing with.

"The council and the government need to provide the necessary resources for people in need to give them a roof over their head."

The charity says they are are being forced to provide a "bed on the pavement" when the council unable to help.

Mr McInnes added: "When the council do not accommodate we have to provide a sleeping bag and foil blankets to be able to brave the elements. We are having to provide the necessary for people to be able to sleep rough just now because they won't do their duty for care."

The charity which is one of the organisers of a protest rally in George Square on Thursday said calls to their homeless hotline giving advice to those who need help has soared from 100 a week a year ago to 1000 now.

And they say many of the calls are from those who wonder why the council cannot provide help.

Glasgow City Council said that under its "duty to advise and assist" it has seen an increase in demand for temporary accommodation in recent months, placing "significant pressure on the available emergency accommodation". It said a contributing factor was the decision by the Home Office to expediate the asylum decision making process.

A Scottish Housing Regulator inquiry into Glasgow's services in 2020 for homeless people concluded that it did not provide temporary accommodation to significant numbers of people when they needed it.

During 2019/20, the council told the regulator that it failed to offer temporary accommodation on 3,786 instances when households required it.

The regulator said this meant the council "failed" to comply with its "statutory duty" to offer temporary accommodation in nearly 1 in 3 occasions when people required it.

It said single people were "disproportionately affected" and accounted for 66% of homeless applications and for 83% of those not offered temporary accommodation.

The inquiry found that in some cases the people not accommodated were vulnerable and had approached the council for accommodation on multiple occasions.

The inquiry was launched after Shelter Scotland launched legal action against Glasgow City Council over its practice of “gatekeeping” – where people who present as homeless are refused their legal rights.

STO campaign co-ordinator Sean Clerkin said: "We have a homeless crisis in Scotland which can only be tackled by the Scottish government stepping up to the plate by giving tens of millions of pounds more to local authorities to provide more and better quality temporary accommodation with wraparound services for drug and alcohol addiction as well as mental health provision in the short term.

"In the medium term, millions has to be committed to build 1000s of social rented homes, bringing empty homes back into circulation. If this is not done we will witness deaths on the streets of Scotland this winter."

Scotland's biggest city already has the highest number of Unsuitable Accommodation Order breaches in Scotland with more than 6000 over the year-and-a-half to July this year. There were 3375 in the Glasgow city council area last year and over 2700 in the first six months of this year.

In 2019, the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that breaches "should not be tolerated" and said it would consider introducing sanctions on those councils that fail to comply as part of plans to "transform temporary accommodation".

A Glasgow City Council spokeswoman said: “We endeavour to accommodate everyone who presents as homeless and we do have to use B&B and hotel accommodation to meet immediate needs. In the cases where we are not able to meet immediate need we explore all options available to them and remain in touch in order that we can offer accommodation as soon as we are able.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation for anyone facing homelessness, but the pandemic and a limited stock of temporary accommodation has led to a backlog. We are aware of the pressures that local authorities, including Glasgow, are facing and are working with them on what support is needed to reduce the use of temporary accommodation.

“We are acting on the recommendations of the expert Temporary Accommodation Task and Finish Group, including investing at least £60 million for councils and social landlords to acquire properties for use as affordable homes, as part of our wider £752 million Affordable Housing Supply Programme investment this year, and asking social landlords to increase allocations to homeless households.”